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“Political Economy” is not “Economics”

“Political Economy” is not “Economics”. Political Economy is that branch of science which describes the arrangement of class forces within a human society at a given point in time, the changes in those arrangements that happen over time, and the causes of such changes.

Surplus Value

Marxist Political Economy recognises the antagonistic nature of the relationship between classes. In the case of the currently dominant class of capitalists (bourgeoisie), Marxism describes the exploitative relationship of this class with the working proletarian class. The relationship is defined by the fact that all value is produced by labour, and capital in particular is produced and maintained by the continuous expropriation of surplus value from workers at the point of production.

Reactionary and Revolutionary Theory

Immediately following the publication of Marx’s “Capital”, in 1867, bourgeois political economists, who had hitherto been content to accept the labour theory of value, turned round and invented an imaginary source of value called “marginal utility”. At this moment in history the bourgeoisie created “Economics” and “Economists” as we know them today. Their ideas are disconnected from material reality and do not amount to a concrete and rational system of thought. That is why bourgeois economics is so difficult to understand – because it does not make sense. It is there to rationalise behaviour which would otherwise have to be considered criminal and inhuman, and therefore deserving of violent revolutionary overthrow.

Imperialism

Since the beginning of the twentieth century, a change has occurred in the international political economy. Capitalist Imperialism, the age of dominant monopoly finance capital, penetrates across borders and interferes with the sovereignty and the political economy of independent countries. Therefore an understanding of Imperialism has become a necessary part of the study of Political Economy in general.